MONDAY, JUNE 21 Make Mine Mortal! – It's Mortals Week here at wordofdarkness.com. We're going to take a look at some more of the mortal content in the World of Darkness Rulebook, and how it can (if you want) mesh with the supernatural elements of Vampire: The Requiem. Do You See What I See? – In a world full of predators it's critical to be aware of your environment. You may have noted, however, that there's no Awareness Skill (or other trait) on the character sheet. The Investigation Skill covers situations when a character is actively searching for something, but what happens when she might or might not notice a creature hiding in the shadows or a faint sound? Easy, the Storyteller calls for a Wits + Composure roll. This works just like a standard Attribute + Skill roll, except that in this case the dice pool is made up of two Attributes. Typically, the Storyteller will call for the roll and provide a modifier based on how difficult it is to perceive whatever triggered the roll (hearing a faint whisper in a crowded room might be at -3 or even -4). Storytellers can play with the way perception checks work depending on the situation. One way is the old standard of rolling the dice herself behind a screen and just telling the players what their characters perceive. There's also the option of Skill-based perception. If a character has a Skill relevant to the situation, they may be more likely to notice something out of the ordinary. In this case, the roll is Wits + the relevant Skill. This could be Wits + Survival to realize that a predatory animal lurks nearby in the woods. Or it might be Wits + Academics to notice that the books on a shelf aren't arranged alphabetically, but by date of publication. As a general rule of thumb, the highest of Composure or the Skill is rolled along with Wits. Of course, there are times when Skills dots simply don't matter, and Wits + Composure always applies. For example, if a gun lies in the corner of a room, having the Firearms Skill doesn't help spot it. |